Chapter 52: The Cécile

There was a loud thumping sound, just beyond my ability to hear clearly and it wouldn’t go away. Then I heard a voice.

“I tell you, if this were my ship and I were the Captain, I’d make sure my mates all had their coffee first thing in the morning!”

That’s when I figured out that they were thumping on the bulkhead between the bridge and my berth.

“ALRIGHT!” I yelled. “I heard! I heard!”

“Seems a right touchy this morn,” Admiral Craig said with a horrendous British accent. It was like Carina cursing with British curse words. It just didn’t work.

I peeled off the clothes I had slept in and jumped in the shower. I had to stop and concentrate to determine if we were moving or not. There was almost no sense of motion and I couldn’t hear if the engines were running. Finally I toweled off and then looked out the porthole. Yeah, we were moving. So I didn’t bother with any clothes.

When I entered the Bridge, I discovered that I wasn’t the only one without clothes. The Admiral and both Captains were just as naked as me. I also saw that they each had a cup of coffee and there was a fourth cup on the table behind the helm with a carafe sitting there.

“I didn’t realize that owning a yacht allowed the captain to sleep late,” Admiral Craig continued his teasing aimed at me.

“You should read the rule book sometime,” I shot back and they all laughed.

“You okay?” asked Captain Alfred.

“Yes, Sir,” I replied. “I think that the day just caught up with me.”

“I’m sorry that Monique said what she said,” Captain Tony said.

“I’m not!” I replied. “She wanted to know, and it had to be addressed. I’m just sorry I handled it so poorly. I didn’t enjoy what I did, but I would do it again in a heartbeat.”

“Son, I’m proud of you. For the first time in months, I slept the sleep of the just, last night,” Captain Tony said.

“Normally, when somebody calls me son, I tell them I am NOT their son. But for you sir, I would claim you as my father anytime.” And then I hugged him in a heartfelt but somewhat awkward ‘bro’ hug. Captain Tony just looked at me and smiled. I could see the tears in the corners of his eyes.

“We are about twenty minutes out of Monte Carlo, with winds out of the northwest at ten knots and the waves are two to three feet. Forecast calls for overcast skies, clearing later to the south,” Captain Alfred reported, just like when we were on the Serendipity.

“You know? When I was in the shower, I had trouble telling if we were actually under way. I couldn’t hear the engines or feel the ship moving,” I told them.

“I believe it’s even quieter than that Bering 75,” Captain Alfred said.

“I think you’re right,” supplied the Admiral. “Why don’t you go down and get some breakfast and when you get back, we’ll start your training.”

“Sounds good!” I said and headed down the stairs.

“It’s Alex!” screamed Marta when I entered the dining room. Soon several nubile naked teenagers were all hugging me.

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Marta was repeating over and over.

I looked at her, not understanding.

“For what you did! Momma told us how you killed that evil witch!” Marta cried.

I should have known this was going to happen. All those teenaged emotions concerning the death of their sister came welling up and now I was the focus of their sorrow. They were sad that she had been killed, but happy I had gotten their revenge. It was overwhelming as Anna, Charlotte, Fleur, and Mischa joined in. Thankfully, Jenna brought me some coffee and orange juice.

“Ladies, let’s give him some peace,” said Monique as she sat a plate of bacon, eggs, and toast in front of me.

When they had retreated, Monique took my hand, the one without the fork in it and squeezed.

“I’ll never be able to thank you enough, Alex. I’m so sorry that you had to go through what you did. But in my heart, I know they deserved it and I almost wish I could have been the one to burn that evil bitch!”

Carina had once warned me about Mother Bear Syndrome. I could see now that it was for real.

“They hurt one of mine and I wasn’t going to let them get away with it,” I told her. “Hopefully we can look forward to happier times now.”

“How lame!” I thought the minute the words were out of my mouth.

But Monique just smiled at me with a weird smile and then left me to finish my breakfast. I know she had to express her feelings, just as her daughters and the other girls had. But I wasn’t sure how much more rehashing of a bad memory I could take.

Suddenly a ghost sat down beside me. At least I thought it was a ghost. Her hair was disheveled like she had just got out of bed and the loose fitting see-through kimono she wore revealed that she didn’t have anything on beneath it. I was just about to say good morning when she hauled off and slapped the fire out of me.

“THAT’s for running off and leaving us without telling us where you were going!” she screamed at me.

“Huh?” I said, not understanding. Then suddenly I realized what she was talking about.

“You bastard!” she screamed and started to slap me again. I quickly shocked her a little and she collapsed as if I had tased her. I guess, I had, in fact, done just that. She just lay there on the floor, moaning and muttering under her breath.

“What did you do?” my mom then screamed at me.

“She was hitting me!” I whined.

“You wanna see hitting? I’ll show you hitting,” she threatened.

I stood up, ready to run. It was then that I realized two things. One, that my mom was standing there naked. And two, it was Samantha lying there on the deck, almost naked.

“It’s alright Mrs. Masters. I just kind of lost it when I saw him sitting there,” Samantha told her. “We didn’t get to the boat until after four this morning and I haven’t had any sleep.”

“But ... but...” my mom stuttered.

“It’s the first time that I’ve seen him since he pulled that Houdini stunt on us in Martinique and Sarah and I kind of took the brunt of it for losing him like that. It hasn’t been pleasant for us and we were surprised when we were told to report to the dock in Monte Carlo for our next assignment. But they didn’t tell us that HE would be here!”

I offered her my hand to help her up and she got a gleam in her eyes like she was going to do some kind of judo shit. But then she re-considered and gamely allowed me to assist her up.

“If it’s any consolation, I’m not sorry I did it, but I’m sorry that you got blamed,” I told her.

“Where did you go?” she asked.

“He hid in a warehouse and when we passed by, he stole our yacht and sailed to the Isle of Céleste and then hid out until he could find the killers and then he destroyed them!” Monique explained.

“You ... you got them?” Samantha said. “I HAVE GOT to hear the whole story, but can it wait until Sarah wakes up?”

‘Aaah ... sure,” I replied as I rubbed my still stinging cheek.

“Who else is on board?” she asked. “We only saw Archara this morning when we arrived.”

“Let’s see ... it’s my family, Archara’s family, Alex’s family, and Admiral Craig and his wife,” Monique told her. “Oh, yeah, Roland and Carina and their daughter are here as well.”

“Can you tell me where we are going or how long we’ll be gone?” Samantha asked.

“Not yet,” Monique supplied. “Alfred said that he would tell everyone later today. I don’t think it’s that big of a secret, it’s just that it was laid on all sort of last minute and we just haven’t had time to discuss it yet.”

“Who’s boat?” she asked.

“Why it’s Alex’s. Didn’t Cynthiana tell you anything?” Monique asked the girl.

“We didn’t speak to Cynthiana. We just got a message to report to Pier 35, slip 17 before daybreak today and to pack light,” Samantha said. “Of course, now that I see who’s on board, it makes more sense. The packing light, I mean. It’s just that Sarah and I have been getting all the jerk assignments, ever since we lost Alex in Martinique, and we thought this was just another one.”

“Well, it looks like someone is giving you another chance. I wouldn’t put it past Alex to have set it up,” my mom told her as she gave me a disdainful look.

I just kept my mouth closed. I KNEW who set this up and I figured she had her reasons.

“Do you know where we’re going?” Samantha asked me accusingly.

“I’m not getting in the middle of this. I may own the boat, but Captain Alfred still out-ranks me!” I told them as I headed for the flybridge.

“Wait! Alex!” she cried. “Can’t I get some coffee first?”

I stopped and turned around and just looked at her.

“Well ... we don’t want to lose you again!” she cried.

“I’m going to the bridge. Take your time to have some breakfast and then come on up. I won’t disappear on you again,” I told her as I stood there rubbing my cheek. “I think I learned my lesson.”

I could already hear the women filling her in as I mounted the stairs for the flybridge.

Captain Tony asked what had happened when he saw my face. So I told them about finding Samantha and what she had done. They all thought it was funny. Then they started my instruction on the bridge instrument cluster.

It was an hour later when she found us. Samantha had shed her kimono, fixed her hair, and put on a pair of deck shoes. All the men looked at her appreciatively, then turned back to what they were doing. I led her over to the booth behind the Captain’s chair and offered her another cup of coffee.

“This is nice,” she said looking all around. “Really first class.”

“Thanks,” I replied.

“Uh ... Alex?” she started. “I’m really sorry I slapped you,” she said. I could see the corners of her eyes beginning to leak.

“C’mon,” I said as I took her hand and led her the five paces to my cabin. Once inside, I closed the door and sat her down on the bed. Then I pulled up the only chair in the room and faced her.

“Why don’t we clear the air?” I asked her.

“Okay...”

“First, what I did in Martinique was not aimed at ditching you or Sarah, but instead, I had suddenly realized how dangerous it had become for people I love to be around me. It’s why Cécile was killed and Captain Alfred was hurt. I didn’t want that happening to anyone else. I couldn’t have handled it.”

“I can see that.”

“Second, I didn’t realize that you and your sister would be punished for what I did, although I guess everyone was pretty upset about everything that had happened,” I told her.

“I wouldn’t say we were punished, exactly. It was more like we were made to work harder. Looking back, I think it was to make us tougher. To make us better agents. And now that we’re here, I guess that means that Reggie isn’t really mad at us. I mean you fooled him too.”

“The only thing Reggie ever told me was that you and Sarah were getting a little more seasoning. And he certainly didn’t sound mad or disappointed when he said it.”

Samantha thought about everything for a minute. Finally, she asked, “Where does that leave us?”

I couldn’t help it. She looked like a little lost puppy. I stood and took her face in my hands and kissed her passionately. And just like old times, she kissed me back with the same intensity.

“Oh, Alex. I have missed you!” she sighed.

There were warning bells going off in my brain, but as usual for me, I ignored them. I’d discuss it later with my psychiatrist ... if he was still talking to me.

Then I led her to the door and patted her on the butt while telling her that she did not have to guard me 24/7. At least while we were on the yacht.

When I returned to the bridge, Captain Alfred pulled me aside.

“Listen, Alex. This trip you have planned is probably going to be at least three to four weeks long. And right now, you have plenty of leadership on your bridge. You also have seven young ladies and at least four other women who need your attention right now. And it wouldn’t be good to sequester yourself on the bridge all the time. So we have decided to wait to start your training until after we stop in Málaga next Saturday,” he told me.

“But don’t you think I should be learning all I can on how to operate the boat?” I asked.

“What? You don’t think the three of us can handle things on this small ship?” he asked with a grin.

I turned and left the bridge with a “Yes, Sir! Captain!” I could see where he was coming from and I’d bow to his wisdom.

I found Roland and Carina sitting on the sofa in the salon.

“Hi,” I said. “Are you still talking to me?”

“Of course, silly!” Carina replied.

“I was talking to your husband. I need some help and wondered if I was still a patient,” I told her.

Carina looked from me to her husband and back again. Then she arose without a word and after giving him a look, disappeared towards the front of the boat.

“I wasn’t talking to her,” I said defensively. “I was talking to you.”

“Get me a beer and pull up a chair,” Roland said. “They say that crow goes down better with beer.”

After I got him his beer, he proceeded to tell me how he had been wrong. Typical of Roland, he was brief and succinct.

“Now that we have that out of the way, can you forgive me?” he asked.

“Nothing to forgive. You did what you had to do to protect the ones that you love,” I replied.

“Then what can I do for you?”

I began by telling him what I was experiencing with all the women on board. He asked me to tell him exactly what happened last Friday. I gave him a very accurate but brief accounting.

“And how do you feel about what you did?” he asked. That was just like Roland, getting to the heart of the matter. We had done this hundreds of times over the year plus that I had known him and our dialogue flowed quickly and crisply, even when I got bogged down with emotions.

“Did you go there planning to kill them Friday?’ he asked.

“No. We were just playing golf and scoping out their home on the seventh green. We didn’t even know she was there. We had figured we would do something on Monday, during the qualifying tournament.”

“What changed your mind?”

“She turned and looked at me and screamed ‘It’s him’!” I sensed that she was reaching for her gun and I’m sure many of the men surrounding the house were reaching for theirs.”

“So you reacted in self-defense?” he asked.

I just looked at him as the reality hit me. I had wanted her dead, but when it came down to it, she was trying to kill me.

“Thanks,” I told him.

“Think you can handle it on your own now?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I replied as I relaxed for the first time in weeks.

“Good. Now, would you go tell my wife so she’ll forgive me too?” he asked with a smile.

I didn’t set up the sleeping arrangements. Heck, I hadn’t even seen the whole ship yet. So I took a moment to look around the main deck.

Starting from the stern where you entered the boat via the passerelle, was the enclosable cockpit, with scattered furniture for lounging and a large dining table for twelve, then through a glass sliding door was the salon with a large seating area, a big screen TV, and another smaller dining table with seating for eight.